Slip
by FemaleChauvinist
Summary: Nessie slips at school…but Carlisle says he prefers this kind of slip to what the Cullens usually mean by the word.


**Disclaimer:** While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle and other medical personnel are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Recognizable characters and plotlines are the property of Stephenie Meyer; all original characters and story © 2018 FemaleChauvinist.

 _Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety._

 **A/N: The date of this story is correct for my alternate history, as described in my profile. Barbie**

 _Spring 2009_

 _Nessie three A/E eleven, claiming eleven, sixth grade_

 **Nessie**

"I dare ya!"

"Yeah, double-dare ya, Nessie!"

"Don't do it, Nessie!" Gracie begged anxiously.

I tossed my head. I suppose I was showing off, but I honestly didn't see what the big deal was about walking the top of the monkey bars. I climbed up quickly, stepping off the side of the jungle gym onto the bars and balancing myself on the side rail. I tried to make it look like I was having a hard time keeping my balance; really, I could have done this with my eyes shut.

"Nessie Cullen! Get down from there before you fall!"

I half turned; Gracie had run to get the teacher and was pulling her forward as she pointed excitedly at me.

And somehow as I turned, my foot slipped.

" _Nessie_!" Miss Phillips shouted.

I could have caught myself easily; could have flipped and landed sitting on the bar and pretended I meant to do that…but how could I explain that? In the single second after I realized I was falling, I decided to let myself fall…it wasn't _that_ high. Lower than the porch roof, and Daddy let me jump off that by myself if someone was watching.

My chin smacked hard against the metal bar; ow. No one would have seen if I had twisted enough to avoid that…and I'd actually felt the metal give way.

The next instant, I landed in the crushed tire rubber under the jungle gym.

"Nessie!" Gracie screamed.

"Wow," Billy whispered in awe. "Didja see that? She actually _bent_ the monkey bars."

"I'm all right," I said quickly, starting to push myself up with my elbow.

"No!" Miss Phillips said quickly. "Lie still, Nessie; you might have hurt your neck." She looked uneasily at the bent monkey bars. "Maddie, run and get the nurse."

Maddie took off across the playground, and I lay still, trying not to cry. I tried so hard not to do anything to give us away, and now…

"She hit the bars with her chin," Miss Phillips explained in a low voice when Mrs Walker got there. "Hard enough to actually bend the metal. I'm afraid she may have hurt her neck."

The nurse nodded slowly. "We'd better call an ambulance."

"No!" I exclaimed. "My neck's fine — I don't need an ambulance!"

"Lie still, Nessie!"

"I won't! If you call an ambulance, I'll-I'll — just call Papa," I begged.

Miss Phillips and Mrs Walker looked at each other. "Her father _is_ a doctor," the teacher offered.

The nurse patted my shoulder. "All right, honey. You just lie still and stay calm. I'll call your father, and we'll see what he says. But if he thinks you need an ambulance, we're not going to argue, all right?"

"Okay," I said softly.

Mrs Walker went inside to make the call.

"Your father's on his way over, Nessie," she said when she returned. She turned to Miss Phillips. "He thinks she's probably fine; said she's sturdier than she looks." She eyed the bent metal doubtfully, but didn't say anything more.

In just a few minutes, Papa's black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot; a little too fast for a school zone, but the humans would assume he was anxious to get to me. He pulled into an empty space beside the playground and got out carrying his black doctor's bag. To the humans it would appear he was hurrying toward us, but I could see that his human charade was still firmly in place; if he had really been concerned that I was hurt, he would have been moving just a little too fast.

The nurse hurried forward to meet him. "Dr Cullen…I'm Amelia Walker. We tried to keep her still; you can see where the bar is dented."

Papa barely glanced at it, kneeling by my side. "You all right, Nessie?" he asked softly, one hand slipping under my head to feel the back of my neck.

"My chin hurts a little," I admitted softly.

"Mmm." He made a show of examining my neck, and then looked up at the humans. "Her neck seems fine; let's get her inside. Would one of you mind grabbing my bag?" He gently lifted me, and I turned my face against his arm. I _wasn't_ going to cry…

He carried me to the nurse's office and gently set me on the little cot. I bit back a whimper; the cot was softer, but Papa's arms had been far more comforting.

"What happened, Nessie?" he asked softly, crouching beside the cot.

I bit my lip. "I was showing off," I admitted in a small voice. "Billy dared me to walk the top of the monkey bars."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you _fell off_?"

I felt my face redden. "My shoes are new…the soles are leather…they're slippery. I _could_ have caught myself, but I thought that would give us away…"

Papa chuckled. "And leaving a dent in the metal doesn't?"

I knew he was only teasing, but the words made it impossible to hold back the tears any longer. "Papa…" I choked.

He bent forward, concern in his eyes, and I threw my arms around his neck. _I'm sorry, Papa! I didn't know — I didn't mean to!_

"Shh, baby," he murmured against my hair. "It's all right, sweetheart." His arms cradled me gently against him.

 _Will we have to move?_

"No," he assured me. "I'll smooth things over with the humans. But even if we did have to move, Nessie…it wouldn't matter. All things considered, I like this kind of 'slip' better than the other."

I managed a small smile, then winced.

Papa noticed and frowned slightly as he laid me back on the cot. "Let's have a look at that chin…how badly does it hurt?" He was still leaning over me, and I reached to press my hand to his face, keeping it there as he gently felt under my jaw.

"Nothing's broken," he said, speaking for the first time loudly enough for the humans to hear, "but you're going to have a pretty nasty bruise."

"But…she _dented_ the metal!" the teacher protested.

"Well, it looks like the monkey bars got the worst of it," Papa said with a chuckle. He smiled indulgently. "Come on, now; do you honestly believe she could have bent that bar, no matter how hard she hit it? I doubt either of you could do it with a rock."

"Well…no…but she _did_."

Papa shook his head. "Can either of you swear to it that the bar wasn't bent to begin with?"

Miss Phillips and Mrs Walker looked at each other, unsure now.

"You saw Nessie hit the bar and saw the dent in it, and you just assumed she made the dent."

"Yes…I suppose so."

Wow, Papa was good…he nearly had _me_ convinced. Had I really felt the metal give way under my chin, or only imagined it?

"Mrs Walker, could you get a glass of water and an ice pack, please?" Papa requested.

"Of course."

Papa got a pill out of his bag and handed it to me with the plastic cup of water she gave him. "Sorry you'll have to take it with water, Nessie," he murmured.

I grimaced, but my chin _did_ hurt and I washed the pill down without arguing. And as human foods went, water was one of the less repulsive. It was just tasteless and…too wet.

"She can go back to class whenever she wants," Papa told Mrs Walker and Miss Phillips. "Or she can stay here in the office until her brother comes to pick her up after school. I'd drop her off home myself, but it's a pretty fair distance and I was scheduled to see a patient fifteen minutes ago."

"I'm sorry to have called you away from work," Mrs Walker said quickly; "I understand you must be quite busy."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her with a smile. "But I'd better be getting back now. Nessie," he added softly, "I'll drive past the high school and let your father know what happened."

"'Kay," I murmured. "See you later, Papa."

I fully intended to go back to class in a half hour or so, but the painkiller Papa had given me made me sleepy, and the next thing I knew was the feel of a cool hand against my cheek. "Renesmée?"

I blinked my eyes open. _Hi, Daddy._

He gently removed the ice pack. "Carlisle was right," he murmured, "that _is_ a nasty bruise."

 _The monkey bars got it worse._

He smiled slightly. "I'm sure. Ready to go home, sweetheart?"

I nodded and sat up, but before I could stand Daddy lifted me in his arms.

"Mr Cullen, you'll have to sign her out, since you're picking her up from the office," Mrs Walker told him.

"Of course." He shifted me to one arm, and I watched in fascination as he signed in perfect Victorian script. I wished he'd let _me_ write like that, but he insisted I use the cursive script they taught in school now.

 **oOo**

That night, Daddy and I drove back to the school. I giggled as we walked across the playground; it was fun being out with Daddy after dark.

I watched as he took hold of the bent monkey bars and with no apparent effort, straightened it out. He didn't make it quite as good as new; it was bent enough that they would look at it and think they had imagined how bad it was earlier; straight enough that they would believe Papa that it had been that way all along. Papa would have fixed it himself, but there had still been people on the playground.

Then Daddy jumped up to stand on the far rung of the monkey bars. "Walk to me, Nessie."

I grinned and scrambled up. I wasn't scared; I was wearing rubber-soled shoes now; with no human observers I could catch myself if I _did_ fall. And I knew even if I didn't, Daddy would catch me.

I walked easily across the bars and jumped into his arms at the end. "No more showing off," he said firmly.

 _I won't._

He pressed his face against my hair. "I love you, Renesmée."

 _I love you, too, Daddy._

The End

 **A/N:** **All right, I know a child probably couldn't convince a teacher not to call an ambulance…author's need I'm putting it down to Nessie's vampire charm; when she really wants to get her way, humans** _ **can't**_ **say no to her. As for any other mistakes in school policy, I was homeschooled and never attended public school, so I had to make it up the best I could. Barbie**

 _I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!_

 _Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Twilight alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie_


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